Saturday, March 20, 2010

Slave to Money

People compare. People see others who have a lot of great nice things, and they want them too. It's hard not to compare, I guess. It's a natural thing to do, I guess.

Somehow people get trapped in this idea that they can have it all too (which you can, but that's another topic), but they need it right now. They start lusting after the attention they will receive from living in a big nice home, driving a new car, and living like kings....even though it's all a lie.

"But I deserve it."

Don't we all.

Don't get me wrong, I am PRO having abundance in all areas of life!!! I plan on traveling the world, giving money to programs that I support, and doing all the things that my husband and I dream and plan on doing. I plan on having a beautiful home, a great car, nice furniture, quality clothes, etc... In fact, I spend a lot of time envisioning all of these things.

BUT I will progress to that point. Progression makes for continual increase of happiness. We are meant to progress, not to have it all now.

Here is my thing, don't we all deserve to be HAPPY above all else? What makes people think that having brand new things now is the source to happiness?

Once you buy such things without the cash to back it up, you become a slave. A slave to your home. A slave to your car. A slave to working more odd jobs, not because you want to, but because you have to! You no longer can even joy the beautiful things that you have because your mind is occupied with the stress of having to pay for these "things" that were supposed to bring so much happiness.

Where do you find your happiness? Really, think about it.

I am a student. I live in an apartment. My husband and I are just finishing up school. We have a small car. Wow, this looks quite depressing? But it's not..

I am truly happy! And it feels great to know I really actually feel that way.

We have NO debt. We live well below our means. We have a lot of money in savings. I feel incredibly good about that. I spend my time dreaming and thinking about our future and how much we want to accomplish, how much we want to give, how much we want to serve, how much we want to travel....and so on. I look forward to life, I love life!

To everything there is a season,a time for every purpose under Heaven

ecclesiastes 3:1

When you are slave to money, you spend time thinking about how you're going to make it, how many extra jobs you can take on to pay for your "nice things." Above all, you don't work anymore because you want to, but because you have to. You give less of your time and spend less time serving others, because you NEED to spend your time satisfying your need to these things, by working and always thinking about working.

My goal is to make money be my slave (in a matter of speaking), rather than me being a slave to money. Money works FOR me, it is a blessing to help others, to see the world, to invest in our future and our childrens' futures. A beautiful home, a nice car, trips etc...will all enhance my happiness no doubt, but I hope I will never de dependent on those things in order to be happy.

Most of all, I never want my happiness to be dependent on how close I match up to those around me. Comparing really does you no good because then you automatically believe that in order to feel good, you need to always one-up your neighbor.

Be happy NOW, it sure makes life much more enjoyable--and life really is meant to enjoy and have JOY amidst our circumstances.

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